5301 Class Summary

EDLD 5301 in Review
When starting EDLD 5301 I was concerned that I would not enjoy the class. It turned out to be just the opposite. I found this class very informative. I believe it is a course that I will be able to take the knowledge I gained and apply it to my career when I start teaching. In this class I learned about action research and I also learned about the quality indications for research.
When I started this class I was unaware that there was a type of research called action research. Action research is generally used in a school setting (Ferrance, 2000). I found that action research is different from traditional educational research. Educational research portrays linear activity that depicts teachers as technicians and that the practitioners’ role is to implement the research findings from outside of the school (Dana, 2009). In action research the finding are not from outside the school. It focuses on information from within the school. This type of research has many benefits.
There are three benefits that are discussed in the textbook for EDLD 5301. The first is that the theories and knowledge are generated from research that is grounded in the realities of educational practice. The second benefit I read about was that the practitioners become collaborators in the educational research. They do this by investigating their own problems. The third benefit is that practitioners play a part in the research process. This makes them more likely to facilitate changed based on the knowledge gained (Dana, 2009). According to Briscoe and Wells action research can help teachers and principals with their problem solving skills (2002: 429). I think that is very important. All teachers need to have good problem solving skills. Since I was learning about action research, it led into learning about the quality indicators for research.
After learning about action research I learned about the quality indicators of research. I learned about five quality indicators. The first was the context of study. This states that research needs to provide the complete information about the context in which the research takes place. The second indicator is wondering and purpose. This indicator states that I should explain the root of my question in detail. The third indicator is principal research design or data collection and data analysis. This indicator says that data should be collected from multiple sources. The fourth indicator I read about was the principal-researcher learning. This one states that the researcher needs to articulate clear thoughtful statements about what was learned and the process used to learn it. The fifth and final indicator I read about was implications for practice. This states that researchers need to detail examples of changes they have made or will consider making based on their research (Dana, 2009).
When thinking back on what I have learned in this class I am very excited. I feel like learning about action research and the quality indicators will be very beneficial to me in my future. I feel like since I have not had a teaching job yet I will be looking for a job and starting a job armed with knowledge that will benefit my students, fellow teachers, and the students.

References
Dana, N. (2009). Leading with Passion and Knowledge The Principal as Action Researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin
Briscoe, C. and Wells, E. (2002). Reforming Primary Science Assessment Practices: A Case Study of One Teacher's Professional Development through Action Research. Science Education, 86, 417-435.
Ferrance, E. (2000). Action Research. Providence, RI: Brown University. Retrieved from: http://www.lab.brown.edu/pubs/themes_ed/act_research.pdf

Laptops in the classroom

Week 3 Reflection

Over this week I have worked on my action research plan. I am having a little bit of a hard time doing this task mainly because of the way I am having to do the internship. I currently am doing my student teaching assignment so am unable to do my internship. I have gotten approval to do my internship with the GCCISD technology dept but I will not be actually starting the internship until the end of April. It is kind of hard to figure out what I will be doing so far in advance. We work on figuring out a plan, but we have agreed that things may change. You never can tell what may be going on that far in advance.
This week I also read about different ways of presenting your findings. I read that you can give an oral presentation or a written presentation. I think both of these are good ways of presenting information. I read about the different things you need to add to your presentation. I personally think the most important is being able to back up what you are saying with data. I think people will find your finding more credibleif you can back them up with data.